Nioh has some difficult bosses. They’ll shish-kebab you in the blink of an eye. What if I told you one magic spell that turns them into total pushovers?

I’ve played close to 50 hours of Nioh. I’ve slain brutish yokai and engaged in some pretty awesome sword duels. I’m a straight up ninja warrior. Until now, I’ve hardly touched the game’s Onmyo magic, which allows the use of special spell and items. This was a huge mistake.

After leveling up your magic points to level ten and competing the first two magic dojo trials, you can unlock Sloth Talismans. These spells slow down enemies to a snail’s pace and make bosses a breeze to fight. Here I am fighting the ice spirit Yuki-onna without using Sloth Talismans:

Holy shit. What the hell? I blinked for a second and she stabbed me through the chest. Confession time: I spent roughly one hour and twenty minutes darting, dashing, and dying until I finally managed to slay this nefarious spirit through judicious and well considered use of my spear. Then I finally listened to my coworker Kirk Hamilton’s tip and used magic. Time for a rematch. Here’s how it went:

Night and day difference. Those attacks would be twice as fast and require me to actually dash through her guard. Here? I just do a little dance before casually walking up and cutting the spirit to pieces with my dual tachi.

The results are in and nine out of ten samurai agree: Sloth Talismans make teeth bright and yokai deader. I should know. I used to be a level one gaijin moron and now I’m a level 53 kunoichi. And if I can do it, you can too!